


Remember That

by EternallyEC



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Violence, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23973769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EternallyEC/pseuds/EternallyEC
Summary: TW: Domestic violence, abuse (mentioned only for both)Tori's not used to needing help but now that she does, there's only one person she wants it from.
Relationships: Tori Vega & Jade West, Tori Vega/Jade West
Kudos: 122





	Remember That

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Domestic violence, abuse (mentioned only for both)
> 
> First things first. Domestic violence is an issue that hits close to home for me. There is help available if you need it, but please make sure you keep yourself safe. The national domestic violence hotline number is 1-800-799-7233 and they also have a live chat you can utilize. 
> 
> Secondly, I really don't have a timeline for this fic and I blame Like Cats and Dogs for me using Danny as the boyfriend and further convoluting the issue. Hopefully, it doesn't bother you too much since Victorious has iffy continuity as it is. Please read and let me know what you think!

Tori has no idea what she’s doing here.

Usually, it’s everyone else who turns up on her doorstep looking for help. She’s used to that, used to giving and giving and ignoring her own problems in favor of helping those she cares about. 

She’s not used to being on the other end of it. She’s not used to needing help of her own and now that she does, there’s only one person she wants it from. 

There’s a flash of deja vu when the door swings open to reveal Jade on the other side. The situations are reversed, sure; Tori’s on the wrong side of the door and Jade’s the one looking at her in surprise. They’re both older and Jade’s hair is no longer the brunette it was then; instead, it's now a raven black with purple extensions in tonight. Still, Tori can't help but remember the broken-hearted brunette with a broken kite who'd shown up at her door, begging Tori to fix her with a thinly veiled metaphor.

Tori opens her mouth and closes it again a few times without saying anything, the weight of Jade’s gaze comforting instead of suffocating the way she’d feared it might be. The other girl seems willing to wait for her to speak, studying her with an unreadable gaze, and Tori takes comfort from that too. 

“Can I stay here tonight?” Tori finally manages to get out, nervously tugging at her long sleeves. She immediately realizes her mistake when Jade’s gaze goes to them, her eyes narrowing. It’s summer in LA, far too warm to be wearing long sleeves and Tori curses inwardly, knowing she’s drawn her suspicion. 

To her surprise, Jade just nods and steps aside to let her walk into the house. She’d half-expected the other girl to shut the door in her face or at least to make some joke, maybe force her sleeve up and force Tori into revealing what Jade’s face showed she already suspected.

But Jade’s never been one to do the expected and she supposes she shouldn’t be surprised that this is no exception. 

“So what’s up, Vega? You look like shit,” Jade smirks, but there’s something in her eyes that lets Tori relax despite the insult, letting her know that it’s Jade’s way of trying to normalize the situation.

“Danny and I had a fight,” Tori sighs, glancing nervously around the living room. She really just wants to sit down, but she’s never been to Jade’s house before and everything looks expensive and unlived in, two things she wants nothing to do with. 

“You want anything?” Jade asks abruptly, and Tori looks at her in surprise before shaking her head. “Come on, let’s go to my room.”

Tori can’t help but smile as she follows, grateful for the chance to sit down once they get to her room. It’s dark, strange jars and terrifying movie posters adorning the walls, but Tori immediately feels relaxed and at home in the room. Sitting on the bed beside Jade, she wraps her hands in the sleeves of her shirt and starts playing with the fabric between her fingers nervously.

“So what happened, Tori?”

It’s the use of her first name that shocks her back to reality, or rather the way Jade says it. It’s not like the other girl hasn’t called her by name before, but she’s never heard it from her quite like that. It sounds… warm, caring almost, and Tori sighs as she turns to face her. 

“It was my fault,” Tori sighs, nervously playing with her sleeves again. “I saw a picture of him and another girl and I confronted him,” she swallows, biting her lip. “I got too mad and I pushed too much and…” 

She’s cut off by Jade’s finger pressing to her lips, watching as the other girl shakes her head. “Do you trust me?” 

Tori doesn’t even have to think about it; she just nods. “Of course I do.”

Jade swallows, surprise flashing through her eyes as she mumbles, “Okay,” like she can’t believe it. Her hands go to Tori’s sleeves, still wrapped around her hands and Tori lets go of her death grip on the material. 

Jade unwraps her right hand, slowly but firmly pushing the sleeve over her hand and hesitating as just an inch of skin is revealed. Her eyes move back up to Tori’s again, questioning again. Tori nods again, her breath quickening as Jade slowly slides her sleeve up to reveal the finger-shaped red marks that were already beginning to turn a purplish color. 

Gently turning her arm from side-to-side to see the way they wrapped around her arm, Jade’s jaw tightens but her grip remains incredibly soft and Tori doesn’t feel anything but safe despite her worries about how she might react. She winces slightly when Jade reaches out to lightly trace one of the marks and the other girl immediately backs off, moving her hand down to clasp Tori’s. 

“Let’s get one thing straight, Vega. There’s a lot of shit that you can say is your fault, but this?” Jade growls, and Tori can’t help but wonder what it says about her that she feels even safer with the reappearance of her usual temper. “This isn’t one of them. I’m going to kill that fucker.”

“Jade, please don’t do anything,” Tori sighs, tightening her grip on her hand when she fears she might pull away. “I pushed him too hard and he didn’t mean to do it, I was hitting him and he was just trying to stop me.”

“No. No. Goddamn it Tori Vega, you listen to me.  _ These _ are not from him trying to stop you. These are from him deliberately hurting you because he was pissed and wanted to try to control you, do you understand that? Fuck, Tori, these are going to bruise,” she swallows, and Tori’s breath is taken away by the sight of tears in her eyes. “Is this the first time? And don’t you dare lie to me, Vega.”

“No,” Tori whispers without even stopping to think about it. “But he never hit me before. He threw a shoe at me once” 

“Does that make it  _ okay _ , then? Listen to yourself, Tori. Imagine if Cat came to you with bruises and said it was her fault that someone grabbed her arm hard enough to leave them.” 

Tori’s stomach tightens at the thought. “Cat’s different.”

“No, she’s not, Tori. No one is different enough to make this okay.”

“You’ve done it.”

The words are out before she can stop them and she cowers when she sees the look on Jade’s face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t--”

“What do you mean, I’ve done it?” she asks, her voice eerily calm. Tori can’t tell if it’s a good thing or a bad one but, knowing Jade, she assumes it can only be bad. 

“When you dragged me into the janitor’s closet, I had bruises for a while,” she says softly, knowing there’s no point in trying to deny what she’d said. “But… it’s not even that. You said he was pissed and wanted to control me, so he hurt you,” she said slowly, lifting her eyes to meet Jade’s timidly. “Isn’t that what you do?”

She doesn’t know what reaction she’s expecting. The anger that flashes through Jade’s eyes isn’t surprising, but the self-loathing that she doesn’t even try to hide is unexpected. Tori sucks in a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Jade--”

“Don’t, Tori.” Jade’s voice is quiet and pained, her breathing ragged. “Don’t apologize to me. You’re right.” She laughs bitterly, her eyes haunted as they bore into Tori’s. “I’m trying to figure out why the fuck you’re putting up with an asshole like Danny hurting you when  _ I’m  _ the goddamn reason you think you deserve it in the first place.”

“Jade…”

“No. Listen to me, Tori. I’m only going to say this once. I’m fucked up, but you don’t have to be. You’re better than me, Tori, you’re better than that. You’re better than letting anyone put their goddamn hands on you, you hear me?”

Tori nods silently, gently squeezing Jade’s hand and watching as she relaxes slightly. “Jade?” she asks quietly. “Can I ask you something?”

Jade sighs. “I don’t know,” she says quietly, answering Tori’s unspoken question. “At first, I was just mad about you touching Beck and looking at him like that. Then I was mad that you had the guts to come back and stand up to me the way you did. Then… I don’t know, no matter what I did, you never backed off. You never gave up on me the way everyone else did and it scared the shit out of me. I started to…  _ feel  _ things that I wasn’t supposed to.”

Tori swallows, cocking her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

“If I tell you, do you promise you’ll break up with Danny? Right here, in front of me?”

“That’s manipulative,” Tori whines, but it’s mostly for show and she doesn’t hide it.

“Did you really expect anything else from me?” Jade smirks, and both relax a little now that they’re back to their usual dynamic. 

Without a second thought, Tori pulls her Pearphone out and dials Danny’s number, putting it on speakerphone. 

_ “Hello?” _

“It’s over, Danny. You’ve put your hands on me for the last time,” Tori says before hanging up, grinning at Jade as a wave of relief and power washes over her. 

“Damn, Vega, didn’t know you had it in you,” Jade grins, a hint of pride in her emerald eyes. 

“I had a good teacher,” Tori smiles, watching as Jade’s grin fades away. “You can tell me, Jade.” 

“I started to like you as more than a friend,” Jade swallows, looking uncharacteristically nervous as she meets Tori’s gaze again. 

“Jade… when?” Tori asks, keeping her tone soft and gentle, giving her hand a squeeze before bringing it into her lap and wrapping her other hand around it to anchor her there. 

“I don’t know, it just was  _ there  _ one day. You were sitting across from me at lunch and you smiled and my stomach did the  _ stupidest  _ little flip and I just knew.” 

“Jade…”

“Don’t say anything. I get it, okay? I treated you like trash and you just broke up with an abusive asshole who treated you only  _ marginally  _ worse than I have and--”

Tori rolls her eyes and without thinking too much about it, she does what she knows Jade would in this moment. She leans forward and shuts Jade up by pressing her lips to hers. 

The kiss is soft, chaste in a way that Tori would never have associated with Jade before tonight but somehow  _ fits  _ her anyway, and it only lasts seconds. When she pulls back, Jade’s eyes are closed and she’s almost smiling. 

“Are you going to let me talk now?” 

Jade nods, her eyes slowly opening.

“Good. I’m not saying that I’m willing to jump into a relationship with you because that would be stupid and crazy and I’d yell at any of my friends for thinking about that after what we just talked about.” She sees Jade’s face waver and smiles, cupping her cheek. 

“But you didn’t treat me anything like Danny did, Jade. You’ve hurt me, I won’t patronize you by pretending any differently, but I always knew it was just an act with you. The times that you’ve shown me your heart… I knew that you couldn’t mean any of it. But it doesn’t make it okay, either.”

“I know,” Jade mumbles, silencing when Tori puts a firm finger to her lips. 

“But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to see where this could go, Jade. It’s going to be slow and it’s going to take time, but I’d like for us to be friends.  _ Actual  _ friends, Jade, and maybe then…” She steals one more kiss, blushing at the look of total surprise and awe on Jade’s face.

“I can deal with that,” Jade smiles shyly, another new look on her for Tori. “But I can be a real gank and sometimes I can’t help it.”

“I’m not asking for you to change who you are, Jade. I’m asking you to trust me and to let me in every once in a while. I want  _ all  _ of you as my friend, Jade West, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  _ Not  _ that you’re ugly, don’t even try that,” she giggles as Jade’s face falls. 

“You know me too well already,” Jade grumbles, but she can’t hide the smile on her face. 

“I do,” Tori nods, squeezing her hand again. “That’s why I came here tonight. I knew that I could trust you.”

“Imagine that,” Jade smirks. “Out of everyone in our little group, you trusted me. I’m flattered, Vega.” 

“And now you’re making me dinner,” Tori says smugly, jumping off the bed and using their joined hands to tug Jade up with her. 

“When did I become the domestic one in this relationship?” Jade protests, letting Tori pull her along anyway.

“There’s no relationship yet, but if you don’t feed me then there might not ever be one,” Tori smirks. 

Jade pauses and rolls her eyes before huffing in annoyance. 

“So what do you want? ” 

Tori's smile, finally bright for the first time that night as she turns around to wink at her is enough to wipe the annoyed look from Jade's face at the lost battle.

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from Remember That, as performed by a couple of different artists. Jessica Simpson's is the one I usually end up listening to though.


End file.
